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Experts soon suspected the book was stolen and called in the British Embassy, Durham Police and the FBI.

The authorities set about tracing the man who took in the folio, and it led to the arrest of Mr Scott, who lived with his 80-year-old mother in a quiet cul-de-sac in Washington, Tyne and Wear.

Mr Scott publicly denied the theft, and in an interview said that when the book was stolen 10 years ago he would not have known the difference between a Shakespeare first folio and a "paperback Jackie Collins".

He will also face an alternative charge of handling stolen goods and was bailed until Feb 10.